There is nothing like having your creative passions fueled by other similarly-minded people. And I mean friends who are simply awesome. In this case, I was planning a desert night shoot with my buddy Zoo (yes, Zoo) then Gabe told me that he and Nancy were planning a night shoot at the Valley of Fire – a destination I definitely wanted to hit. Done.
So we hopped in the minivan yesterday around noon, picked up Sylvester on the opposite corner and headed north! After stopping for a mad shopping dash so that Zoo coudl cook insanely-delicious food that evening, we zoomed into the park right at sunset. We had called ahead to make sure there was camping available – it was imperative that our bellies be happy in addition to our eyes.
Gracious hosts and minivan transportation into the wild – NanGabe
IR/G9 photo at sunset.
We drove around, getting used to the sights, chasing light and hoping to meet up with the Zisers. Success!
Dusk approached…
She-nanigans
More She-nanigans. Photographers are insanely funny. Seriously. We are.
And then we drove on to chase the dusk…
These were some of the most delicate dusk shots I’ve ever recorded. The colors are subtle and amazing.
And then it was night and we wanted to hit a campsite so Zoo could cook an INSANELY delicious meal via the headlights of the minivan.
So I converted my Canon G9 to infrared last year, and then remembered that I had a Sony IR Emitter from an old SD Video camera almost 10 years ago in the closet. Hmmm. Yes. Yesterday I was out shooting with friends old and new at the Valley of Fire and we stopped at dusk to do some portraits. Results are mystical. Love it.
So I heard about the big contest Nikon is holding, and it got me all jazzed up. I shot this in one evening with my D700 – 5300+ frames, all handheld. All were then imported into iStopMotion HD, and exported via XML to Final Cut Pro. My good friends steamed up to create the original music, and I recorded the foley with my trusty Edirol R-1. Much of it was from building a personal foley library over the past few years.
Please watch this film first on on the Nikon Contest site – it helps my chances at winning the big prize! On December 22nd, I find out if I made the final cut, so to speak, and will ask that you come back to vote and view it again! Thanks so much for your support :)
The newly-opened High Line Park in Manhattan is simply gorgeous. Such a beautiful solution to a structure that had expired. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Take a stroll in the sunset/evening – it’s worth it.
The park staff was really cool. They missed that I was using a huge softbox and power pack for about 1 1/2 hours. Unfortunately, I had to stop with the flash, but tripods are OK. You can shoot flash (like, 600 Ws +) if you get a permit from downtown.
I blended my cut paper art and night photography tonight as a test. Random walkers of the High Line (mostly people from other continents!) donned the paper mask and made funny for the camera. New Yorkers (with one awesome exception) ignored my portrait requests with total, “you’re not even talking to me” disdain.
My favs:
Oh, and I made my first act of public art. The mask was on adhesive-backed vinyl :) Take only pictures, leave only art behind. (grin)
This is a crossover product of photography and stop-motion picture. To do this, I synthesized my cut paper art with my background in photography, film editing and a lot of creative juice. It’s a precursor of a larger project coming along. I just had to do it, since the next parts have a much longer production process.
First is a smoke break along the road from Whistler to Kamloops. Second is another along the highway between Jasper and Banff. Third is from interior of car driving north from Vancouver to Whistler. Fourth is from Furry Creek in BC.
When I was road-tripping up in Canada earlier this year, I shot two with my Mamiya 7II that I love. First is from Kamloops Lake, BC, the next is of the Columbia Icefield Tongue in Alberta (on the way to Banff from Jasper)
